On the surface, Neighborhood Bike Works offers young people something quite simple: a bike and the knowledge necessary to maintain and ride it. What’s unique is how we use that “hook”—the joy and freedom inspired by bikes—to engage youth from distressed Philadelphia neighborhoods in healthy development.

In our Programs:

Youth develop life skills, such as confidence, leadership skills, and resilient characteristics such as facing and overcoming challenges.

Youth develop healthy habits, including building biking into their lives as a form of physical activity, and eating nutritious foods.

Youth learn professional skills that are transferrable to real life experiences.

Youth increase awareness about the importance of the natural environment.

Each year, we engage 400-500 young people across all of our programs and events. Annually we offer over 1,500 hours of intensive classes, job training opportunities, and outreach events, and take youth on thousands of miles of bike rides. We explore Philadelphia landmarks and green spaces that, prior to riding with NBW some youth didn’t even know existed, with trips to Cobb’s Creek, Bartram’s Garden, Mill Creek Farm, and the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge.

In our 2015-2016 Program Year, our youth participants accomplished all of the following:

Our impact is best shared in the words of our youth participants. Here is what a few of them have to say.

“The training and leadership class teaches you skills that can help you progress in future careers, and this program puts you in a state of mind where you’re ready to take on the world.” – Four-year youth program participant, and Youth Council member, Age 17

“This program helped me learn that I shouldn’t always get frustrated and take my anger out on someone else, I should just step away and come back to it or try again next time. Leadership, advanced mechanics, the staff, and my peers were really helpful.” – 15-year old youth program participant, after his first year as a paid Youth Assistant Instructor in our Summer Camp

“The programs are set up where the baseline is teamwork… They set you up from the start to either lead or take someone’s lead… This program, although it deals with bikes, has a baseline subject where you can develop leadership skills and you are able to create a plan of attack in a second. I guess the program showed me that being a leader is something I want to do and showed me how to do it without ever saying a word.” – Youth participate, six months into his participation at NBW. Age 17